2

Unions To Ask Board For
Total War Labor Policy

When the National War Labor Board opens its full-dress
enquiry at Ottawa next week, the problems of labor relations in
Canada will come up for a complete review.
opening May 4, promises to be one of the most important de-
velopments in the vital industrial phase of the war effort.

Throughout the country, trade
unions are putting finishing
touches on the briefs they will lay
before the board. Delegations from
Vancouver will be among those to
bring before the Board labor's pro-
posals on the necessary steps that
have to be taken to solve the criti-
cal situation in many industries
and to bring federal labor policy
into line with war needs.

Pat Sullivan, vice-president of
the Trades and Labor Congress of
Canada, told the press this week
that the Trades Congress will be

This enquiry,

the first organization to appear be-
fore the Board. ~

Labor welcomes the inquiry, said
Sullivan, and hopes that the gov-
ernment will appreciate the need
of canvassing the whole field of
labor problems and institute a new
attitude towards labor on the part
of federal] authorities.

The Trades Congress, which has
long pressed for full labor repre-
sentation on war boards and for
compulsory collective bargaining
legislation, will be represented at

the enquiry by Acting-President

Percy Bengough, Sullivan and
other Congress Officials. ©

The second day of the enquiry
will be taken up by the repre-
sentations of the Canadian Con-
gress of Labor, the General Con-
ference Committee of Standard
Railway Organizations, and the
Catholic Syndicates of Quebec.

The Canadian Manufacturers’
Association, the Canadian Cham-
ber of Commerce, and L. A. For-
syth, a corporation lawyer, will
appear later in the week.

From the two preliminary hear-
ings held two weeks ago union
officials saw that some employer
interests and company representa-
tives will hold forth against the
type of democratic comprehensive
labor code that will be urged by
labor spokesmen.

BC Chinese

Protest
Resolution

Scoring the chauvinistic attitude
against the Chinese people implied
by Vancouver Local Gouncil of
Women in endorsing a recommen-
dation on Chinese immigration at
jts recent annual meeting, Victoria
Ghinese Youth Association has
asked that the resolution be with-
drawn.

The recommendation, brought
forward by the Immigration Com-

mittee, asked that Chinese, as na-
tionals of “a race that cannot be
absorbed as Canadians by inter-
marriage,’ be excluded from Can-
ada.

In a letter of protest to Mrs.
Howard Hines, convenor of the
committee, the Youth Association
viewed the council's attitude to-
wards the Chinese as “grossly mis-
taken.”

“Furthermore,” the letter con-
tinues, “we feel that the decision
made by your council not only is
contrary to the democratic prin-
ciples as proclaimed by leaders of
the United Nations, but is highly
injudicious to a degree that may
constitute an impediment to the
Allied war effort, and, ultimately,
a possible dissension among the
countries that are now fighting
side by side to keep high the
torch of freedom.”

The letter stresses the great na-
tional effort being made by the
Chinese in the war against Japan,
an enemy ‘who has aspirations to

plant his flag on the soil of
Canada.”
¥i00% Union House  PAc. 06s4)

Meet Me at

KING’S CAFE

for a Square Meal!
THE BEST OF FOOD
Your Host .. GEORGE DRICOS
212 Carrall Street

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To*End

Narts Plans
Fuel Crisis

VICTORIA, BC.—While Vancouver still flounders in a sea
of troubles involving critical fuel shortage, with as yet no def-
inite assurance that the next season will offer any brighter a
perspective than last, a second meeting of the continuations

committee elected from a broad,
all-inclusive conference of Van-
couver Island Joint Labor Council

was held last week to consider
further conerete proposals for a
labor solution to the problem.

By agreement with the provin-
cial forestry department a cater-
pillar tractor will be made avyail-
able to the committee, and maps
of available fuel sources within a
15-mile radius of the city have been
provided. The committee plans to
interview representatives of Unit-
ed Mine Workers of America to en-
list their cooperation and assist-
ance.

Since the conference was held, 70

organizations represented have
deluged the federal government
with resolutions calling for imme-
diate action to deal with the seri-
ous shortage of manpower in
mines and lumber camps.

Communist - Labor Total War
Committee proposals contained in
a brief submitted to the conference
called for an over-all survey of the
fuel needs of the district and urged
that labor play its part in solving
the shortage, emphasizing that the
problem must be approached from
the standpoint of war production,
and a concerted drive be made by
government, labor and other bodies
to overcome the critical situation
now existing.

Holidays With Pay
Accepted For Shipyards

Confusion arising from differing interpretations of the holi-
day-with-pay clauses in supplementary agreements now being
negotiated for shipyard unions was cleared up this week when
the government agreed to accept the interpretation of union
representatives regarding the holidays.

Justice Richards recently in-
formed union spokesmen that the
interpretation of the National War}
Labor Board was that the first year
of employment was merely a quali-
fying period, and the holidays with
pay, although made available at
once to those having worked for
one year in the yards, were chalked
up against the following year’s em-
ployment and consequently were
deductable from the employees’
wages on termination of employ-
ment.

Although union leaders are urg-

ing that all unions sign the sup-
plementary agreements in order
that immediate benefits might ac-
crue to shipyard workers, who have
already been working on a seven-
day basis for over a year without
any of the concessions proposed in
the Richards commission report,
they urged the National War Labor
Board to revise its estimation of
the clause pertaining to holidays
with pay in order that the plan
would begin with a clean sheet and
not be charged up against future
work of the shipyard employees.

207 West Hastings Street

DR. W. J. CURRY
DENTIST

4

Tel. PAc. 1526

MODERN and OLD-TIME

DANCING

WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY
Hastings Auditorium
828 E. Hastings

MODERATE RENTAL RATES

et

The People Press Drive

Many Committees Top
uotas This Week

By MINERVA COOPER
The final week! With several committees breaking all pri
ous records in BC press drive history, The People’s campa |
for a sustaining fund of $4,000 rolled triumphantly past
$5,000 mark this week. :
City Committee leads all comers in percentage raised— |
City Committee leads all comers in percentage raised—
percent mark are the loggers, Sal-

vage, and Princeton committees,
Fernie-Michel, AFI groups and—

last Bat even fo lbe lense Orel |e eee oes
Committee: Ukrainians! .-.>-.---- 64.50
It’s painful to have to record the| North Burrard ...... 649.45 |
fact, but it’s nevertheless true that| South Burrard ....-. 341.60
some of our entries, in contrast to 445.50 f
the stars listed above, seem almost Sa ae a ee 4
to be running the other way! Don't W. Coast-Ham. Brdg. 330.00 °
blush—we're not going to mention| Loggers .....-------- 285.45 1
any names. But those committees} Transportation
who haven't made a very glorious Electricians ...---- 121.50
beginning yet, may now put on a Building Trades 10450 7
final spurt and come in with some— 4
thing to boost the grand total. Aircraft ..----------- 56.45 |
We would like to see all moneys| AFL (Misc.) 96.30 °
and subs turned in as soon as pos-| Ol’ Bill ......-------- 276.82 °
sible. The dance at Hastings Audi-| wey Westminster 40.00
torium and the overflow at the eS :
Croatian Hall will undoubtedly Fraser Valley ------ 2EEL
give a final boost to the final sum, Fernie-Michel ..----- 43.00
and we hope to see all of you there| Salmon Arm .......- 23.50
to thank you for a spléndid effort| Princeton .... ...-- 27.70

on behalf of our paper. Courtenay - Cumberl'd 59.00

Next week it may be possible to| Prince Rupert -....- 42.00
give a summary of all totals raised | Sointula .-.-,-.-.-.-- 52.50
in the drive. In advance, we want| Victoria ...........-- 399.50
to thank all of you who haye con-| The Albernis - 63.00
tributed to this very successful] Serbian Group ...... 83.90

drive. And thank you, each of the
new subscribers. By the time we
hold our next drive we hope you
will be among the boosters, selling
subs to your neighbors and friends,
and helping to build The People as
labor’s voice for victory.

Lettish Workers’ Club 34.00
Finnish Victory Club 46.00
Greek. Group ........ 7.30
Uk.-Gan. Associa. .... 6.25

(Powell R. District)
White Collar Group .
Gen. Miscellaneous .-.

16.00
470.50

Fishermen To Get
Extra Food Rations

The first victory in the campaign for a more equitable

tioning system, launched by trade unions and housey
groups shortly after plans for a two-pound per person per ¥
meat quota was announced, was registered this week with
announcement that vessels in the halibut fishing fleet w
be permitted to obtain food supplies by using requisition -
RB 21.

Use of this form has hitherto
been confined to the armed forces,
Department of Munitions and Sup-
ply for naval, military and air serv-
ices, Canadian Red Cross for ex-
ports only, and ships not operating
on fixed quotas. Halibut boats will
now fall in the last category and| Vessels to obtain food suppli
will be able by the use of this form | USing form RB 21 is so far col
to obtain the food supplies needed | t© the halibut fleet. Repre
by fishermen to provide sufficient tions BES Ou being made by
nourishment and prepare for| erment’s organizations to |
emergencies. a similar decision for troller

This decision, say fishermen, con- SIL EES zk
stitutes recognition of the fact that} _Demands for a higher me
the specia] conditions under which | tion are also being submitt
fishermen work cannot be covered |/Umbermen, where the heavy
by the present rationing system. in the camps has led to the
On the fishing grounds commercial tice, in most areas, of serving
fishermen work on an average of at all three meals. Worke
18 hours a day. This means that| Shipbuilding, mining and
more than the regular three meals heavy industries are also 1
must be served if production levels | Protests.

are to be maintained, since fisher-
men are in no position to augment =
May Day
2
Greetings

sel will return. If fishermen
only to be allowed to take on)
an amount of food covered bj
rent ration coupons of the
emergencies delaying their 1
would leave them without fo
board.

The decision to allow f

nor is there any possibility of es-
tablishing industrial canteens as is
done in several other industries.
It is also sometimes impossible,
members point out, to be certain

their rations by restaurant lunches,
on leaving port just when a ves-
to The PEOPLE!

Fat Always the Best at the...

160 West Hastings

EMPIRE CAFE

House of Quality Food

The Only UNION CAFE in the Block

Vancouver, B.C.

Visit the. <-

105 East Hastings

Remember .

.. This is a UNION HOUSE

|

GOOD EATS CAFE %

Where the Food Tastes Better and Costs No More

Lettish
Workers’ Clu

Vancouver, B.C.

<